Dimitroff brushes off Clowney’s trade request

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff responded to South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney’s plea for a trade.

“That’s great to hear that, but I’m sure he’s saying that to everyone as well,” Dimitroff told the

Thomas Dimitroff responds to report that Jadeveon Clowney wants the Falcons to trade up for him.

NFL Network’s Kimberly Jones after the linebacker session on Monday. “He’s making sure that he follows back around.

“Look, like I’ve said, I’ve been very clear about this, we will always be open for business. We will always be open to move up and back, depends on what’s right for us.

“Again, I feel really comfortable with where we are at six, but there are opportunities on both sides of six.”

Jones followed up with a question about getting the Falcons back on track after last season’s 4-12 debacle.

“In the draft, we are real excited about what’s in the draft, offensively and defensively,” Dimitroff said. “We also think there will be some legitimate opportunities in free agency.

“That’s what it’s about, taking every thing into consideration. We know where we need to go. We know what we need to tweak and adjust. As I mentioned before, we’ve done it on the coaching side. We’ve done it on the personnel side. Now, it’s time to really hone in on where we are with the players.”

Clowney, who had a dazzling partial workout, told a reporter from ESPN.com that he wanted to Falcons to trade up to select him.

I would not trade up from No. 6 for anybody. We have too many needs to spend multiple draft picks on one guy. I might trade back if I could stay in the top 10 and get another good draft pick. Maybe then I'd trade up to get back in the first round if there were somebody I really wanted. If we could get J Byrd and an Offensive Guard in FA, draft Robinson or Matthews for LT, move Baker to RT, and find a decent pass rusher we're contenders again.

I believe they will have to trade their 1st, 2nd, and 3th draft pick this year, and their 1st and 2nd draft pick next year to Houston to get Clowney which I believe is an impact player. They did that with Jones a couple years ago now it is the time for the defense to get better like Seattle who just won the Super Bowl. If Atlanta does not have a defense, they will not win; it is that simple meaning I do not care how good or bad your offensive is. Again, if you can not stop anyone you cannot win or try to win!!!

Trade Roddy White get OL from that in the later rounds. Take Sammy Watkins lets go shotgun all game long. Can't run anyways so why line up under center. Scorer 50 a game and see if the defense csan hold the other side to 49.

In the combine, I think Clowney proved again that he can produce.....when he wants to.

The Falcons brass is putting out a lot of un-characteristic praise on Clowney. It appears to me to be more of a smoke screen to hide their true draft plan. If Clowney is available at #6 they may take him, but I don't see them trading up to get him.

If anything, the Falcons need to trade down and get more picks. There are so many holes that need to be filled: OL, DL, LB, RB... And not just one OL and one DL. The Falcons need to draft at least 2 OL. There is no guarantee they pick one up in free agency.

The first 5 picks will likely be Clowney, an OL, and QBs. The Raiders will take a QB or Sammy Watkins so no danger there. If ATL trades down that #6, there will still be plenty of pickin's at later picks: Greg Robinson/Jake Matthews/Khalil Mack/Anthony Barr... Either #8 Minnesota or #9 Buffalo look like easy marks.

The bright shiny toy looks good on the surface but you need 53 men to play in the NFL.

DLed, I take Clowney, if he is there @ 6th...other that...the draft is too deep...with
playmakers...to get consummated by this kid.
Heck, if he is gone B4 we pick…do your homework...and pick out some
winners. .save your assets to build High Quality Depth @ positions of need…see
I got depth right that time.lol

If Clowney
had matched his reps...with that blazing speed...then I would have been
impressed...I’m still not convinced he is self motivated...to work hard every
day to improve. ..Once he get his hand on those chippers!

Trade Roddy White for a first and second draft pick. Draft Sammy
Watkins with the sixth pick. and a solid DE ie. khalil or barr with
the trade of roddy white. Clowney has to much hype. pick up a strong
safety in fa and develop toilolo. improve the oline in the later
rounds. and if posible, draft the running back out of auburn to replace rodgers. super bowl contenders for years to come!!

You guys need to stop fantasizing about us using the 6th highest pick in the draft on an OT that would end up playing RT. SBakers contract all but guarantees he'll be our starting LT for at least 2 more yrs. It's also a waste of time expecting us to draft a certain position or player in the 1st rd without knowing what we'll end up with in FA.

I certainly hope the 5 HCs & GMs picking ahead of us have the same biased opinion of Clowney that some of you fans have.

All I'm saying is this.....if the Falcons somehow get CLowney, rather than an offensive line stud, he better be another Lawerence Taylor type defensive impact player.....or we done wasted this whole draft again!!!

Clowney will be off the board by 6. So the Falcons shoud address the Oline, with that said I believe there are 4-5 Tackles that we could plug in and they would be solid from day one. Robinson(AU) Matthews(TA&M) Lewann (Mich) Kuojano? (Bama). The Falcons should trade back and amass multiple future picks from a team that wants to move up to get a QB or a key target. This draft is deep and im sure there are easily 100+ guys that can come in and be contributers.

So what youre saying,in writing,is that Mr.Clowney was dazzling in his 40 time (a blazing unofficial 4.47) yet not so dazzling in the other portion (21 reps of 225) of the workout? Could that mean that he does what he likes and simply 'blows off' what he doesnt like? I mean who cares about the Bench,really?

Who cares about Fourth and One at the Two yard Line in a playoff game,with Cam Newton who is every bit as big and strong and fast as Mr.Clowney across the line from him?Thats when Who Wants It More comes in,you see.

Who Wants It More cannot be measured,cannot be timed,cannot be bought,borrowed or stolen.

Who Wants It More wins football games,wins playoff games,wins Championships,wins Superbowls.

So what youre saying,in writing,is that Mr.Clowney was dazzling in his 40 time (a blazing unofficial 4.47) yet not so dazzling in the other portion (21 reps of 225) of the workout? Could that mean that he does what he likes and simply 'blows off' what he doesnt like? Isnt that what everyone else has been worried about all along?

@davidv14 But just Clowney is not going to turn our defense into a machine. It takes time to build a defense like Seattle has. And if we give away picks to get Clowney, we'll be in worse shape than we're in right now literally giving away picks for a guy that might be the next Vernon Gholston!

....you smoking dope or something? NOBODY is going to give us 2 high draft picks for Rodney White! He's on the downside of his career, he's injury prone....and was overrated to begin with! All the teams we played and scouted us know the same things we do! We probably are stuck with Rodney, hope he gets healthy and can give us one more year to go with Jones. We need offensive lineman that can pass protect....and open up a hole or two big enough for at least a mouse to get through, which we didn't have last year!

@Okeetee Football is still a team sport. That guy in Texas, J.J. Watt is pretty darn good but I do believe they have the first pick in this years draft. LT didn't do it all by himself. There were some pretty good players on those Giants teams. There are no guarantees on any pick. The offensive stud you speak of may turn out to be a dud. Whatever happens I just hope Dimitroff does not trade up. Stay were you are and draft solid football players. If Thomas Dimitroff can't hit big in this draft, with the depth of talent in it, his career as a GM should be short.

@BigCrimson75 what have you been smoking!?! The reason we are in the mess we are right now is BECAUSE of bad picks and trades... we have a chance to build depth, which we need, and you want to trade picks for Clowney...? Take Barr, Robinson, Mack, Mathews...or trade back and gather picks and try for TimmyJernigan. We need a run stuffer too...so he would fit if we get a "qb catching" LB...

@Leviathan@OkeeteeObvious, to even the most casual observer, football is a TEAM sport! I'm just saying to build a TEAM in todays offensive NFL, we need to have a top notch offensive line! If we move up to improve our pick, I'd do it to get that offensive lineman from Auburn rather than the risky pick of Clownman!

Banning.....whichever "Scout" compared him to "OT" Larry Allen should be fired immediately.

Chief among the reason Larry Allen was one heckuva football player, but I'd venture to guess 95% of the snaps he took in the NFL were at RG/LG, not OT.

Here's two names to google.......Mark Tuinei & Erik Williams.

..........although Williams did get hurt in a playoff game against the 9ers Allen's rookie season & LA had to replace him & played quite well, even though Aikman sorta threw him under the bus after the game. That's mainly b/c he hated Switzer. That was the game Switzer cried that Deion was holding Irvan all over the field!!

You make it sound like we are in need of replacing everyone. Here are the facts, 11 of the 22 opening day starters on both sides of the ball were injured last season and that is why we didn't continue our winning ways. Those guys will be back next year. We will fix the OLine in free agency and maybe get one DLineman in FA too. Then we can add two more defensive starters best available at picks 6 and 36. In my opinion, we will be back in the playoffs next season if that's what TD is able to do. We got a good team, just need a little tune up... All of these sky is falling blow it up fans drive me nuts.

@Dman we have so many holes on this team that we look like sieve...wait! We ARE a sieve...Matt on his back-side so much that he looked like a guy sitting at the dinner table. HOW many rushing yards a game did we give up? Abe for "Abe-light" didn't work because there was no alternate pressure...no running game because the line could not make holes (although it IS hard to be proficient in pass AND run blocking)

Falcon's got away from what made their winning record: running the rock. Then letting Matt air it out.

BTW, Barr Measured out at 6-5 255lbs. and ran a 4.66 virtually the same as Mack (4.65).

Barr is looking mighty tempting at that 6th pick.

But I cannot forget that Matt Ryan was sacked NINE times in the final game vs. Carolina and we still had a chance to win, had we had any kind of OL we win that game and maybe 4 other games which would have made us a wild-card team despite being riddled with injuries.

[…] Whether the Falcons are able to move up to take Clowney is another story, but Dimitroff essentially kept the door open by telling the Atlanta Journal Constitution, we will always be open for business. […]